Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another is lead around his stable just after arriving at Belmont Park in New York, Sunday.
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Published: Wednesday, 5/23/2012

Recovering for Belmont

Trainers says I'll Have Another looks good

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- Triple Crown contender I'll Have Another is recovering well from Saturday's Preakness victory.

The colt arrived at Belmont Park on Sunday to prepare for the June 9 Belmont Stakes, where I'll Have Another will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

An assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill said "he looks great, fantastic." Jack Sisterson said Tuesday that I'll Have Another is "a very happy horse."

Sisterson said the colt will return to the track sometime later this week. O'Neill is scheduled to arrive early next week to supervise the remaining training.

Sisterson said: "He bounced back right out of the race in great shape. ... He's doing everything we wanted to see and more."

Secretariat Birthplace: The Virginia property where Triple Crown winner Secretariat was born has been sold at a foreclosure auction for more than $5 million.

Mark Lovell, owner of Tennessee-based Universal Fairs, successfully bid $5.35 million for the State Fair of Virginia and its home, the 360-acre Meadow Event Park site where Secretariat was born in 1970. He also agreed Tuesday to pay $321,000 in auction house fees.

The property, about 20 miles north of Richmond, includes Secretariat's preserved foaling shed and yearling barn.

Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 and died in 1989.

Court hears trainer's appeal of 10-year ban

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A Kentucky Derby-winning thoroughbred trainer urged a court Tuesday to reject his 10-year ban from the sport, arguing that a top New York racing official appeared biased as a member of the industry organization that first suggested revoking his license.

Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr.'s license was revoked by the New York Racing and Wagering Board in October, although he is currently working under a court-ordered stay.

The three-member board cited infractions including syringes containing an analgesic and sedative found in Dutrow's desk and an analgesic found in the urine of his horse Fastus Cactus in November, 2010, after it won at Aqueduct Racetrack. The board also fined him $50,000.

Attorney Michael Koenig told the five Appellate Division justices that the unprecedented punishment is unfair and fundamentally tainted by Board Chairman John Sabini's position in the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

Koenig said his outspoken client's due process rights had been violated. Dutrow initially faced a 90-day suspension that he appealed, and the case escalated from there despite no new issues, Koenig said.

"We don't believe there's enough evidence in the record to support the allegations," Koenig said.

Dutrow told a hearing officer he didn't know how the syringes got into his desk. A blood test of Fastus Cactus didn't show any butorphanol, and Dutrow's expert witness theorized that the urine test may have been contaminated.

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